Amour Pour La Mer
by bruised-tears
Summary: "I'm not gonna kill ya lass. I'm gonna keep you." Lavinia's kidnapper Jack Sparrow shows her how to conquer her fear of the sea and learns to love. Full summary inside, it should be better than it sounds I promise
1. First Impressions

**Amour Pour La Mer**

**A/N:** Lavinia's mine everything else belongs to the disgustingly rich people who are very obviously not me  
**Full Summary:** Lavinia James is a respectable well-brought up lady whose life is turned upside down when pirates attack her small coastal town resulting in her being kidnapped and taken aboard the Black Pearl to live. Her original hate for Jack Sparrow slowly becomes respect for his honest love for the ocean and life upon it. This steadily grows to something more as the months they spend on the open sea with only the crew for company push them further together. Will their very different lives pull them apart or can a love as pure as that for something such as the ocean keep them whole together.  
**Pairing/s:** Jack Sparrow and OC  
**Rating:** M – occasional language and eventual sex scenes

* * *

**Chapter One - First Impressions  
**  
_Lonely the seabird lies at her rest,  
Blown like a down-blenched parcel of spray  
Upon the wind, or follows her prey  
Under a great wave's hollowing crest_

'Lonely The Seabird Lies At Her Rest' - Yeats  
_  
_

"Lavinia? Lavinia! Curse that wretched girl."

Lavinia rolled her eyes and cocked her head slightly to one side so she could hear the speed of the approaching footsteps getting closer. Silently closing the huge thick book bound in red leather that was resting in her lap she waited until the last moment before drawing back the long dusty purple velvet drapes and exposing herself to the passer-by.

"Damn you Lavinia!"

Lavinia smiled sweetly at the aging man leaning back against the far wall with his hand at his chest glaring at her silhouette as the bright sun filtering in through the window next to her splashed onto the floor between them.

"Charles my dear, you never learn."

Huffing at her he stood up straight and yanked on the bottom of his black waistcoat embroidered with silver thread and bearing Lavinia's family's coat of arms on his right breast pocket. Lavinia slowly uncurled her long legs from where they were tucked up under her on the cushioned window seat and stood up before him, still smiling. He continued to glare at her until his heavily lined face suddenly spilt into a rather toothless smile and he rolled his watery blue eyes at her.

"It's time for your lesson."

Lavinia's smile faltered as she fell into step besides him on their way along the corridor and back into the newer parts of the house. Charles had always been there for Lavinia, having been present at her sooner-than-expected birth he had been the first to hold her and the one to comfort her when her grief-stricken father shunned her over the death of her mother four years later. Eventually his grief had abated enough and he had accepted Lavinia back into his arms.

She had instantly forgiven him for she knew his pain must be double hers which was excruciating enough. The pair had become best friends as well as father and daughter but Charles had always been there with them to care for them both over the years. Now Lavinia turned to him as they walked.

"You still don't approve?"

His bald head reflected the brighter light in the more modern part of the house and she carefully studied his well-worn familiar face in the light, noting the number of lines and the lack of hair besides the thick white tufts over his ears.

"Oh I approve of the lessons, for what its worth; I think a young women should know the way to defend herself. I do not, however, approve of your lying to your father."

Lavinia bit her lip and paused for a moment before quickening her pace to catch up with him again.

"I'm not exactly lying; I am meeting Mr Hutson daily as I told him, the meetings are for lessons as I told him and the meetings are for my benefit as I told him. I'm just omitting what the lessons are for so to speak."

Charles stopped then and looked her in the eye, the look on his face made her lower her own eyes and squirm under his gaze.

"What you've said is true, but what happens if you get injured during one of these lessons? My promise to you not to tell your father means I'll be forced to lie to him about its cause, something I am not particularly partial doing."

Lavinia hung her head so her long blood-red curls fell over her shoulders and into her eyes, the silken ringlets were only just contained by a glittering dragonfly comb and as usual they looked about to break free of it. Charles's eyes softened and he stretched out a wrinkled, liver-spotted hand to touch her shoulder, she lifted her head and he smiled gently at her.

"You should tell him, he may be more receptive than you presume."

Before Lavinia could respond he was walking away again, pausing outside a door and opening it for her. Smiling she kissed his cheek and entered the room to begin her day's lesson.

* * *

"You're not concentrating."

Lavinia shoved her sticky hair away from her sweating forehead and bent over slightly to catch her breath as her instructor leant his sword against his shoulder and surveyed her.

"I have things on my mind to occupy me."

He narrowed his eyes at her and lowered his sword to rest the point in the ground as she straightened up to face him.

"In battle you will not have the time to think of other things. You must give your one hundred percent concentration to the fight or you will die."

Lavinia was about to take up her fighting stance once more when a distant bell signalled she had ten minutes before dinner and she lowered her sword to her side. Turning her back she poised herself for an attack but none came, instead when she turned back she was alone and Charles was knocking at the door asking if she was ready to eat.

* * *

Sitting at the dinner table in the dress he had been wearing before her lesson Lavinia once again cleared her throat to tell her father the nature of her lessons, and once more she merely asked him to pass her the salt instead. She was halfway through cursing herself at length and very fluently in her mind for being such a coward when something exploded through the far wall sending everything on the table flying and knocking them all to the floor.

Seeing dozens of running feet racing past the table Lavinia crawled over to where her father was out cold. She quickly checked his pulse and pulled him further towards the centre of the table out of sight before moving on to find Charles. Resting her hands on an overturned chair she chanced a glance at what was happening in the chaos around her and came face to face with a pirate.

Stifling a scream when a handful of her hair was grabbed and she was hauled to her feet she kicked out at him and raced on through the door, knocking another pirate over on her way until she saw Charles standing before the door to her father's study where the family's heirlooms and most expensive irreplaceable items were kept. A pirate had a gun pointed at him and was saying something but Lavinia's hearing seemed to have disappeared as screaming running people barrelled past her and bullets zipped backwards and forwards around her.

A single gunshot pierced through her deafness and a scream sounded somewhere distant as she hurled herself forwards to where Charles was crumpling to the floor before her. Realising the scream was hers it was strangled by a sob as she caught at Charles's body and pulled him towards her, spreading blood over her dress and hands as she pressed her forehead down against his already cooling one. Tears mingled with the blood on his face and trickled into his slightly open mouth as she swiped at her tears, smearing blood across her cheeks.

Sound came rushing back to her as hands seized her upper arms and dragged her away from Charles. She was pulled backwards and thrown against a wall where she hit her head hard. Shaking her head to clear her fuzzy vision she felt a burning sensation at her temple and a dampness seeping into her hair before darkness smudged her vision.

"Leave her!"

The pirate that had ripped open her dress and was about to grab at her was knocked sideways by his companion as a rather mournful horn sounded through the wrecked house.

"You know the sound, we return to the ship."

The pirate hissed at her and gestured at the unconscious form of Lavinia on the floor and the female pirate rolled her eyes as their shipmates raced past them with their bags coats and hands filled to bursting with jewels.

"Bring her with us if you must but when the Captain finds out its nothing to do with me."

The pirate nodded gleefully at her and gathered Lavinia against him, throwing her over his shoulder and following the other pirates out through the smoking town towards the dock.

* * *

"S'nice bunch of swag ya gathered boys I think we all deserve a… what is _that_ and why is it on my ship?"

"Hostage, Captain Sparrow, sir."

Lavinia stirred slightly at the sound of a voice and the events of the past hour came rushing back at her. Cracking open an eye slowly she caught sight of a slice of a starlit sky and the rigging and mast of a ship before a face appeared over her blocking this out. She recognised that face. Making a sudden move forwards towards him he took a step back looking half surprised half satisfied and nodded at a pair of pirates who sprang forwards to restrain her.

"You set fire to my town, murdered my butler who was also my friend, robbed the town and ruined my house."

The pirate nodded his way through the list as she spoke, her chest heaving with emotion as she fought against the pirates holding her.

"I believe we did all of them yeah."

Snarling Lavinia threw herself at him again hardly noticing the pain as the pirates tightened their grip almost unbearably on her arms. Glaring murderously up from her position on her knees she felt tears of anger and hatred welling in her eyes as the Captain gave the order for the ship to set sail and turned his back on her. The pirates holding her seemed to think she was too upset to move as they hesitantly released her and shuffled off to go about their duties.

Lavinia smiled gently to herself and removed the knife she had taken from the dinner table earlier from a pocket in her dress. Getting into a crouching position so her legs were still hidden from view she quickly assessed the distance between them as Mr Hutson had taught her and leapt forwards.

Jack Sparrow, however, was not as stupid as certain members of his crew and had been expecting her to attack once she was freed. Turning he caught her in midair and spun her around until she slammed into the deck of the ship and he landed on top of her, effectively pinning her down beneath him. He tightened his grip on her wrist and dug his nails into her soft flesh until her grip released on the knife and he knocked it away from the pair of them with the back of his hand.

"I hate you! Just do your will sir; kill me and be done with it."

Her half sob half scream was ignored by the crew as she ceased her writhing and lay limp beneath him, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes and rolling down the sides of her face to land in her hair which had finally broken free of its bonds in all the excitement and was tumbling over her pale freckled shoulders where her ripped dress was falling away from her body.

Now Jack may have been a pirate and therefore considered hardly a human by any respectable person, but he was also technically a man. And the sight of any beautiful woman softened a man's heart, and did rather unmentionable things to his loins too, as now the sight of Lavinia sprawled with her full chest heaving and her shapely body trapped beneath him melted Jack's. He also happened to make the mistake of looking her in the eye; he saw the sorrow and hatred burning deep inside the greeny-blue orbs so like the sea he loved so much and he made a rather rash decision a little too quickly, something he would curse himself for frequently later on.

"I'm not gonna kill ya lass. I'm gonna keep you."

Relief surfaced in her eyes before being replaced by anger at his words, he could see her about to make some comment about being spoken of as a dog would be and quickly cut her off by binding her hands together with a spare length of rope and yanking her to her feet. He dragged her across the ship towards a set of doors which he yanked open, Lavinia caught a brief glimpse of expensive furniture decorating an exquisite state room before she was shoved in with such force she landed on the floor and the door was slammed shut and locked behind her.

Working her way up into a sitting position she took in the rolls and rolls of maps stacked in a corner next to the desk where a single oil lamp hanging from the ceiling lit the room and swayed with the motion of the boat casting moving shadows as her entertainment. Spotting a large bed covered in blankets and sheets made from the most expensive materials she cast a defiant look at the door through which sounds of revelry sounded, and she crawled over to it. She collapsed onto it and snuggled down into the sheets where exhaustion took over and she was asleep almost instantly.


	2. A Deep Happiness

**Amour Pour La Mer**

**A/N**: Lavinia's mine everything else belongs to the disgustingly rich people who are very obviously not me  
**Full Summary**: Lavinia Sparrow is a respectable well-brought up lady whose life is turned upside down when pirates attack her small coastal town resulting in her being kidnapped and taken aboard the Black Pearl to live. Her original hate for Sparrow Sparrow slowly becomes respect for his honest love for the ocean and life upon it. This steadily grows to something more as the months they spend on the open sea with only the crew for company push them further together. Will their very different lives pull them apart or can a love as pure as that for something such as the ocean keep them whole together.  
**Pairing/s**: Jack Sparrow and OC  
**Rating**: M – occasional language and eventual sex scenes

**Chapter Two** – **A Deep Happiness**

O friend of my scribbled life  
Your heart is like mine -  
Your loneliness  
Will bring you home

'_A Deep Happiness' – Leonard Cohen_

A harsh beam of sunlight filtering through the grimy window above her was what rudely awoke Lavinia from her deep mercifully dreamless sleep. Sitting up slowly it took her a while to realize her surroundings, after a disoriented moment it all came roaring back and she bit her lip. Mentally she gave the memories of her life at home a gentle prod but they proved too painful to probe for long and she quickly threw back the covers and shook her head clear. Wandering into the adjoining room she found a tiny bathroom where she washed her tear-streaked face and cooled down her burning temples and wrists with the icy water.

After rinsing the blood out of her hair as best she could she managed to clumsily work it up at the back of her head with the various pins still in it from the night before. Sighing at her reflection she shrugged and headed out back through the room to try the door, for some reason it was unlocked. Pushing it open she crept out and was nearly knocked sideways by a pirate rushing in the opposite direction with a long thick rope slung over his shoulder. Ignoring his leering she hurried past onto the centre of the deck and spun slowly in a full circle taking in her surroundings, her sharp eyes catching sight of the Captain standing before the wheel with his eyes fixed on the horizon.

She ignored him as well and made her way to the front of the ship instead, past more leering pirates until she was standing as close to the front as she could. Leaning over slightly she caught sight of the lapping sea and she rather hurriedly jerked back and fixed her gaze firmly on the distant horizon.

"It's a better view back there."

She froze when she felt Jack behind her but she didn't give him any further indication that she had heard him. He titled his head as he studied her staring resolutely out at the distant horizon. He reached out a hand to touch her arm and she jerked away from him instantly, treading on her skirts in her hurry she crumpled and sat staring up at him in a heap on the floor.

"I wasn't gonna hurt you lass."

She continued to stare up at him in silence, her face impassive but her eyes reproaching him with a burning intensity that made him lower his still outstretched hand. Sitting up she watched as he turned on his heel and stalked, rather unsteadily, back to his place behind the wheel. She remained where she was, slumped under her skirts against the boat as her mind worked slowly and torturously through the events of the previous night.

She had not yet allowed herself to grieve and sitting there desolately on her way to god knows where with her family's killers she didn't want to grieve; she wanted to push it all away and hide it in the farthest corner of her heart and never touch it again. But she knew that if she did her sorrow would soon turn to hate as it had come so perilously close to doing in her father after the death of her mother and she was decidedly much more terrified at that thought then her current situation.

She suddenly started when she felt something wet touch her hand and she touched her hand wonderingly to her face which was also wet with tears. She jumped when a shadow fell over her and she slowly raised her head to look at Jack who was standing over her. He didn't say anything. Instead he bent down and took a hold of her wrists, pulling her up and leading her, rather forcibly when she tried to struggle, below deck to his room where a chest stood at the side of his bed thrown open. Through her tears she could make out bundles of material and she knelt down next to the chest, pulling out colourful undoubtedly expensive dresses one by one until the floor was strewn with them.

She was so preoccupied she didn't notice Jack leaving the room. She stripped down to her underwear and was about to pull on a beautiful clean sky-blue dress when she caught sight of a forgotten bundle of clothes in one corner of the chest. Kneeling back down amongst the soft folds of material she reached out a hand and pulled out a pair of black breeches. Turning them over in her hands Lavinia pulled a face at the obvious ridiculous tightness of them and she threw them aside. The other black swatch of fabric she could see soon revealed itself to be a black silk corset lined in deep crimson.

Tossing it on top of the trousers she moved to the final bundle of material and held it out before her. A beautiful white blouse printed with large red flowers and fastened with pearly buttons stared back at her. It really was beautiful. She sighed and dropped it alongside the corset before picking up the dress and preparing to slip into it. Halfway into it she caught sight of a flash of red and she turned to fix her gaze on the outfit she had found at the bottom of the chest. Why not? No one was here to see her, a respectable lady, only a bunch of pirates so why not try dressing up for once. Like a child seeing the presents under the tree at Christmas she was suddenly excited and she flung the dress away from her.

She stared at herself in the undoubtedly stolen full-length ornately carved golden mirror secured to the wall. The light from the window directly behind her cast her mostly in shadow and she gave an irritated hiss as the sun buried itself within a cloud. Turning from one side to the other so she could see her reflection from all directions she cocked her head to the side and bit her lip. She looked much more her nineteen years now she was dressed in something other than expensive dresses and she wasn't sure whether she liked it or not yet.

She had managed, after much struggling and longer rather fluent swearing, to hold her hair back from her face at the sides with two ruby studded combs she had found in a drawer in Jack's desk. Her hair was mostly curling down her back rather gracefully she thought and her long surprisingly straight fringe fell over one eye since most of it was pulled back into the combs above her ears at the back of her head. Giving up she dropped her hands from her hips and slapped them against her sides and slumped her shoulders.

She was about to turn away from the mirror when she caught sight of something on Jack's desk to her right and she gave a wicked smirk.

* * *

"Lady!" 

Lavinia jerked and glared around at the door which someone was now pounding unmercifully.

"Go away."

When the pounding paused she was far from comforted and she turned around fully to face the door, taking a step back she found herself pressed against the wall as a wry voice carried through the key hole of the locked door.

"We're on a boat where do you want me to go?" She narrowed her eyes as she realised who it was and folded her arms stubbornly. "And may I remind you; you're in _my_ damn cabin!"

Her retort was lost when something blew apart the wall before her, shattering the glass of the mirror besides her as she was knocked down with her hands over her head. There were sounds of explosions and much shouting as she dragged herself groggily up onto her hands and knees. Seeing the wreckage of the room before her she watched through the hole the cannonball had made as a dark ship passed them. Pirates were hanging gleefully off the rigging as their shipmates continued to fire upon the Pearl. Lavinia's eyes widened and she threw herself forcefully to the side as she watched a cannon being aimed directly at her. Pieces of wood showered down over her and she felt a sharpness against her cheek but she didn't have time to consider it as the ship shook from the force of the blows it was receiving.

"What're you doin' to me ship!"

Hearing an enraged bellowing on the other side of the door she seized her chance and crawled hurriedly through the ruins of the Captain's cabin until she reached the door. Turning the key in the lock she pulled on the door. Nothing happened. Cursing she turned the key again, and once more nothing happened. She could hear shots being fired regularly now and the sounds of a dozen swords defending their ship resounded in her head as she threw herself at the stuck door. Spinning around she scanned the room desperately for something heavy, her eyes landed on the cannonball that had shattered the mirror and she hesitated before scooping it up in one of the discarded dresses.

Heaving it with all her might at the door she prayed silently to every god she could think of. They weren't listening. The door remained stuck with nothing but an irregular dent in the centre to show for her efforts. Growling threw herself at the door and kicked at it, the bottom splintered slightly. She kicked at it again as the wood began to give. It didn't occur to her that she was probably safer where she was as she battered at the door with her feet. Finally it splintered halfway up the door and she took a hold of the bottom and wrenched.

She had ripped half the door away from the frame, enough for her to wriggle under right into the centre of the battle. A pirate caught sight of her and thundered towards her waving his sword and roaring gleefully. She looked around for someone to help her but they were all busy. Something heavy rolled against her foot and she glanced down to see the cannonball smiling cheerfully up at her. Ducking down she grabbed it and smashed it against the pirate's head with a satisfying cracking sound.

She watched as he crumbled to the ground and the cannonball rolled away across the deck. Sticking her tongue out at the pirate she stepped onto his chest as she made her way through the fighting. Narrowly missing having her ear shot off she stumbled sideways into a pirate who fell over the edge with a loud splash. Seeing a discarded oar she grabbed a hold of it and hugged it to her chest as another pirate came towards her licking his lips. Smiling at her he revealed one front tooth dangling miserably from his gum and she decided to help it out. She swung the oar at him as hard as she could making him drop to his knees in pain where she promptly whacked him on the head.

Yet another pirate was on his way towards her and she swung back the oar waiting for him. Unfortunately she hit Gibbs over the back of the head with the oar as she swung it back and he fell backwards onto the deck, staring up at her with unfocused eyes.

"Oops. Sorry!"

Managing to shout the words over her shoulder as she darted past the approaching pirate she slammed into another who hit the mast with a nasty sounding crunch, she sincerely hoped it came from him and not the actual mast. She was so busy backing away from a couple of leering pirates she didn't notice the one creeping up behind her until he had her by the throat and was tossing her over the edge into the water.

She had time for one blood-curdling scream before she hit the water with a loud splash. Opening her eyes she saw the huge shadow of the boat above her and she panicked; kicking wildly her feet scraped against the wood as she swung her arms around trying to get away from it. Seeing so much water around her did nothing for her terror and she continued to scramble wildly in the water, panic making her breathe irregularly which resulted in her losing her breath much quicker than she should have. Finally her head broke the surface and she managed to gurgle a little before she was dragged under by a pressure at her ankle.

Twisting uncomfortably she could just make out one of the pirates she had knocked in earlier clinging onto her and seemingly trying to climb up her body to reach the surface. She slapped at him and kicked her legs but her strength was waning; she was on the verge of unconsciousness when she felt an arm around her waist pulling her upwards. She blinked hazily through the water still in her eyes to see the water getting further and further away from her as whoever had hold of her was pulled up onto the deck.

The pair tumbled unceremoniously onto the deck and Lavinia lay on the warm wooden boards with her eyes shut for a moment wishing she could just go to sleep.

"Is she dead?"

Excruciatingly slowly she managed to proper herself up by her weak and wobbling arms as she gasped for breath and watched the water dripping from her soaked hair and clothes onto the deck into a pool below her. Her legs weren't ready to work yet as her arms decided to give way a little and she dropped onto her elbows.

"N…no." She managed to croak.

She felt a hand at her hip and she was rolled onto her back, the harsh sun blinding her as it drifted through the coils of smoke and dust still reaching up from the boat. A head moved to block out the sun and she winced at Jack's face as he took a hold of hers to study her.

"She's alive."

Lavinia groaned and shut her eyes, rolling her head to the side. She felt too weak to move even as she was hauled to her feet by Jack.

"What happened?"

Her muttered question hung in the air for a moment before Gibbs decided to answer; Jack was busy surveying the wreckage of his beloved ship.

"We were attacked, by pirates. Don't know why."

"Ah." Lavinia eyed him as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry."

He glared at her before bustling over to begin whatever repairs they could manage with the materials they had on board. Lavinia staggered sideways and landed against the wall outside the Captain's cabin, or what was left of it anyway. Jack stared open mouthed at what had happened to his room with his mouth open before turning to glower at Lavinia.

"What did you do?" She shrugged and he grabbed up the broken piece of door she had discarded. "This… this is from Tahiti! Do you have any idea how much threatening I had to put in to get this? You can't just steal it every day you know."

She stared at his mutinous expression with something like amusement in her eyes as she straightened up slowly and pushed herself tentatively away from the wall.

"I'll help fix it."

He tossed the door back into the room sending up a cloud of dust as he stared sulkily around the room.

"What does a woman, beg pardon… a _lady_ know about fixing things."

Lavinia narrowed her eyes at him and defiantly grabbed the rather large hammer Gibbs was handing to Jack before he could reach it.

* * *

**dugadugabowbow** – thank you very much 

**susan** – thank you

**Sparrow's Lovely Lass** – err thanks, and I love the name by the way

**A Depp Girl** – yay I'm glad someone likes it, and you're a Johnny Depp girl so I love you anyway

**Sue-AnneSparrow** – begging heeded here you go

**psychotic kitten** – glad you like Lavinia I love her : )


	3. Sea Fever

**Amour Pour La Mer**

**A/N**: Lavinia's mine everything else belongs to the disgustingly rich people who are very obviously not me

**Full Summary**: Lavinia Sparrow is a respectable well-brought up lady whose life is turned upside down when pirates attack her small coastal town resulting in her being kidnapped and taken aboard the Black Pearl to live. Her original hate for Jack Sparrow slowly becomes respect for his honest love for the ocean and life upon it. This steadily grows to something more as the months they spend on the open sea with only the crew for company push them further together. Will their very different lives pull them apart or can a love as pure as that for something such as the ocean keep them whole together.

**Pairing/s**: Jack Sparrow and OC

**Rating**: M – occasional language and eventual sex scenes

**Chapter Three – Sea Fever**

_I must go down to the seas again to the lonely sea and the sky,_

_And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,_

_And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sails shaking,_

_And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking._

_I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide_

_Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;_

_And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,_

_And the flung spray and the blown spume and the seagull crying._

_I must go down to the sea again, to the vagrant gypsy life,_

_To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife:_

_And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow rover,_

_And a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trip's over._

'_Sea Fever' – John Masefield_

Lavinia dragged the back of her dirty hand across her sweating face, leaving dirty marks across her cheeks and nose. She shoved her sweaty hair from off her forehead before returning to repairing the piece of wood she was working on. Picking up the hammer she held it tightly with both hands and secured the piece of wood between her thighs, heaving the hammer high over her head she brought it crashing down on the wood. It bent back into shape with a groaning sound and she grinned smugly.

Dragging the heavy wood under her arm she managed to nab a few heavy iron screws from one of the pirates she passed who eyed her suspiciously before deciding she couldn't be doing much harm. When she reached her destination she propped the wood up where it had originally been and set about screwing it back into place. Muttering furiously under her breath and knocking her hands about something awful in the process she managed to secure it back onto its hinges. Swinging it in and out she gave a satisfied nod and searched the ship for Jack.

He was where he usually was, behind the wheel barking out orders without helping in the slightest. If he heard her calling to him he ignored it and she scowled, picking up one of the heavy screws left over and tossing it with all her remaining energy at his head. It hit him dead between the eyes and he glared down at her, she placed a hand on her hip and made a motion with her head that he was to come down to her.

"I fixed your stupid door."

He looked from her to the door silently for a long moment.

"Yes… so you have."

"Gah!" Lavinia cried, throwing her hands into the air and stalking away from him.

He stared after her; "What did I do?"

Anamaria snorted as she passed him and he shrugged and headed back up to the wheel.

* * *

"Stupid pirates… and their silly stolen doors…" Lavinia muttered, scrubbing at her arms and face with the luke warm water in the basin before her.

She stripped off her dirty sweaty clothes and wrapped a nearby sheet around her as she cleaned her arms tenderly. They were bruising badly from the recent events and were giving her a lot more pain than she'd like to admit. She had one leg propped up on the table and was sponging her legs gingerly when the door slammed open. She dropped the sponge in shock.

"What are you doing in me cabin?" Jack demanded, before realising she was mostly naked under the sheet and he could see rather a large amount of exposed creamy white flesh.

"Get out." Lavinia said in a deadly calm voice.

"May I just point out…" Jack started.

"No!" She wailed. "OUT!"

"This is a good look for you. Lovely outfit… maybe too much of an outfit." He added, ducking the sponge she threw at him.

"Maybe you should have less of an outfit and more of a state."

She howled at him and threw the basin of water at his head, merely succeeding in drenching them both and shattering the bowl.

"Yes a naked state I think." Jack continued as though nothing had happened.

"GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!" Lavinia howled, clutching the sheet tighter around her.

"This is my cabin." Jack pointed out.

Lavinia scowled at him.

"Do you want children, Captain Sparrow?"

He waved a hand vaguely around and gave her that lob-sided look of his.

"Not particularly, I mean there's nothing to say I don't actually have a few running about the ocean but no…"

"Good." Lavinia said, grabbing the knife from the table where she had tucked into her discarded trousers and throwing it at him.

It struck the leather flask he was holding at his waist and stayed there, the point quivering ominously and he held the flask up so he could look at it.

"Right… point taken."

He pulled it out and made to give it back to her, pausing at the look on her face and putting it into his pocket with a nervous grin. Smiling strangely at her he backed out of the door and closed it on her. He pulled the knife out and held it up in the sunlight. It was really a very pretty knife. Silver and engraved with patterns along the handle.

"Women." He muttered, twirling the knife in his hands idly as he wandered across the deck.

* * *

Lavinia rolled over in her makeshift hammock below decks. She listened to the sea lapping against the boat and sighed. She couldn't sleep. Getting to her feet she grabbed her grubby blanket and wrapped it around her, heading up on the deck. She heard the boat creaking around her as she moved across the deck to sit on the stairs leading up to the stern of the boat.

She pulled the blanket tighter around her and watched the moonlight rippling on the water. Salty wind whipped her hair around her face and matched the tears building behind her eyes.

"I've never been so far from home." She whispered.

"What's that?" A voice said below her.

She jumped and squinted into the darkness. It was Jack who had been pacing the deck when she had appeared. He moved to sit next to her, rather closer than she liked but she didn't say anything.

"I said I've never been this far from home." She repeated. "Although I don't think I have a home anymore. I'm lost."

She turned to look at the water again and he watched her profile for a long moment, when she turned around to face him again her cheeks were wet. His face was half-hidden in the shadows and his eyes sparkled in the dark. He handed her the bottle he was holding.

"Rum?"

She frowned. She had begun to realise that rum was something of a necessity for Jack. Not very encouraging when he was in charge of steering the heap she was currently captive on.

"Rum doesn't solve everything, Jack." She said softly.

He took a swig before offering her the bottle again.

"No." He said. "But it's a bloody good start."

She found herself smiling and she turned away from him so he wouldn't see. She took the bottle from him and drank her first taste of rum in her life. It was disgusting and she nearly spat it all over the deck. Knocking this would scandalise Jack she considered spitting it out on purpose for a moment before she came to the conclusion that this wasn't very ladylike and she forced herself to swallow the liquid.

"Bluergh." She said, or something that sounded very like it.

She swiped the back of her hand across her mouth and pulled a face at the bottle still clutched in her hand.

"You actually like this stuff?" She said croakily.

Jack looked affronted; "Well if you don't want it."

He reached out to take it from her but she hugged the bottle to her chest.

"No. I didn't say that."

She looked at the bottle curiously for a moment.

"Will this get me drunk?" She asked a tad hopefully.

"If you drink enough." Jack said dubiously.

She squinted at the bottle for a long moment before taking a long swig.

"Bah." She coughed. "I think another bottle is in order Captain."

Jack watched the rum that had trickled over her lips and down her chin darkly… what a waste.

* * *

**Beautiful Terror is Terribl**... – Hmmmmm, I'm allergic to Sunny D… I can only have so much or it brings me out in a rash. Figure that one out lol. Glad you like the story.

**Queen of the Mary Sue** – Thanks I'm glad you like her

**ColoursOfFreedom** – I know its taken me ages to update, sorry about that but here you go

**A Depp Girl** – not a lot of action in this one, hmmmmm, some nudity and alcohol though does that count?

**MysticalElfGoddess** – I wish I had the patience to learn Latin, or the time, thanks for reading

**Lady Venya of the isle** – glad you like it

**Hope and love** – thanks a lot


	4. Let Us Go to the Ocean

Amour Pour La Mer

**Amour Pour La Mer**

**A/N**: Lavinia's mine everything else belongs to the disgustingly rich people who are very obviously not me

**Full Summary**: Lavinia Sparrow is a respectable well-brought up lady whose life is turned upside down when pirates attack her small coastal town resulting in her being kidnapped and taken aboard the Black Pearl to live. Her original hate for Jack Sparrow slowly becomes respect for his honest love for the ocean and life upon it. This steadily grows to something more as the months they spend on the open sea with only the crew for company push them further together. Will their very different lives pull them apart or can a love as pure as that for something such as the ocean keep them whole together.

**Pairing/s**: Jack Sparrow and OC

**Rating**: M – occasional language and eventual sex scenes

**Chapter Four**** – ****Let Us Go to the Ocean**

Let us go to the ocean, you and I,  
Sit among shadows and taste pomegranate skies,  
Savouring blue that bludgeons past life's sigh,  
Eternities that quiver at the child's cry,  
Winds that dissolve the still sounds of the sea,  
The sea shell's ear harbouring  
The honeyed voice of the breeze,  
The taunt of the sea foam  
To the lone rider of the sea,  
"Ride swiftly to catch seahorse  
But you will never catch me,  
Until night pounds day  
With the heavy fist of dreams  
And the dream that's been captured  
Is the dream that runs free"  
And the cherub's voice sings softly  
Of sea castles and foam,  
Blown across oceans  
By the One who is known,  
In the night, eclipsed by the day,  
By the sea, and the laughter,  
And the bees humming at dawn.

'_Let Us Go to the Ocean, You and I' – S.K Lindeman_

"Urgh." Lavinia groaned, blinking against the harsh sunlight battering against her eyes.

She was too scared to move so she lay where she was with her eyes shut, the rocking motion of the ship doing nothing to settle her stomach. She gingerly opened one eye a crack, her eye sweeping the deserted ship. She managed to sit up without throwing up, clinging onto the side of the ship as though her life depended on it.

"Where is everybody?" She murmured to herself, shading her eyes from the glare of the sun as she scanned the ship.

There was no sign of a single soul anywhere. It took her a moment to remember the events of the night before and she flushed a violent shade of red when she tasted the rum still on her lips. That was not very ladylike. She staggered towards Jack's cabin, studying herself in the newly "acquired" mirror. Her hair was tumbling around her shoulders, already darkened with sweat at the stifling heat, her eyes were huge and red in her deathly pale face and her blouse was disgracefully unfastened and revealing entirely too much cleavage.

She sat down on Jack's bed for a long moment, churning things over in her mind. She knew he hadn't taken advantage of her, not that he wouldn't have given the drunken opportunity she had presented him with, but because she could tell her body hadn't been touched last night. She came to the conclusion that her wretched hangover was punishment for behaving in such a way and she sighed shakily.

As she crossed the deck she noticed for the first time that they were in a marina, the port leading to a surprisingly pleasant looking town nestled against a mountain. _They're probably plundering it_, she thought to herself regretfully.

"Bloody pirates." She cursed, making her way below deck in the vain hope of finding someone.

Below deck was just as empty as above deck and she sighed in pleasure. She found the huge barrel of water they had left for drinking. She paused besides it for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. If they were on shore re-supplying then what did it matter? She peeled her clothes from her sticky body and climbed into the barrel. The freezing water was refreshing against the heat of the air and she briefly submerged herself, rubbing her hair and wincing at the tangles.

She finally emerged and heaved herself out of the barrel as gracefully as she could manage.

"You can hold your breath for a long time, miss."

She stifled a scream as she tumbled off the edge of the barrel and landed with a painful-sounding thump on the floor, scrambling to cover herself with her discarded clothes. She glared up at Jack who was lounging against a stack of barrels with an amused look on his face.

"How dare you…" Lavinia spluttered angrily, her face flushed with shame as she remained knelt on the floor with her clothes held against her too embarrassed to risk moving.

"It's my ship, luv, I can go wherever I want. Captain." He added, waving an airy hand at his hat.

"Can you at least turn around so I can get dressed?" Lavinia seethed through gritted teeth, glowering at him when he gave a surprised exclamation.

"What for?"

She considered lunging at him but decided against it until she had managed to pull her clothes back on.

"I am not one of your whores, Captain." She spat at him indignantly, too angry to be afraid in case he struck her or worse.

He continued to stare at her with a smirk on his face until her knees began to cramp painfully. Surprising himself almost much as he surprised her, Jack left her alone to get dressed and headed back to his cabin. Lavinia pulled her clothes on quickly, worried that if Jack had made it back to the ship then maybe the rest of the crew would follow.

When she finally reached the deck again, the crew were filtering back onto the ship laden down with individual purchases.

"How long are we going to be here?" She asked Gibbs as he passed her carrying a curious-looking goat.

He stared at her consideringly as though wondering if she was trying to make a run for it. She wasn't offended, the thought had crossed her mind but what was the point she was alone here as much as anywhere she supposed.

"'Til tomorrow." He finally replied, hurrying off and leaving her staring at the town curiously.

Feeling the need for solid ground under her feet, she cautiously descended the long slope into the town. She wandered aimlessly around the streets, stopping occasionally to examine beautiful silks and cloths and intricate jewels which not so long ago she would have bought in an instant. She was accosted by stall-owners wherever she went, trying to sell her whatever they could. She was having quite a lot of fun playing with the animals for sale at the market when she noticed someone's reflection watching her in a mirror by her head.

She bit her lip nervously and backed away from the animals, thanking the owner regretfully that she couldn't buy any of his animals. She whimpered when she felt someone grab her from behind, an iron-like grip at her elbow.

"Don't look back."

She looked up at Jack, who was leading them through the crowds easily. Before Lavinia could demand to know what was going on she saw another stranger advance on them from the shadows of an alley and she shrank closer to Jack, choosing the lesser of two evils. As they passed a whore-house, Jack nodded at a group of four or five scantily clad women prowling around outside of the entrance and they glided in front of their pursuers. While they were momentarily distracted by the blockade of whores, Jack and Lavinia disappeared into the crowds.

Lavinia was shaking with fear when they finally reached the ship, tears of terror blurring her eyes as she stumbled up the ramp and onto the deck. The stories she had heard of the dangers of foreign islands told by the soldiers she had met were all flooding back into her head as she realised the danger she had been in wandering around on her own.

"Thank you." She whispered as Jack silently handed her a mug of hot rum Anamaria had just made.

She sat quietly on his bed, the mug cooling on the table by the bed as she clutched his blankets around her, twisting them around her shaking fingers. When she sniffled and bit her trembling lip, Jack shoved the mug back at her mumbling about the stubbornness of women. She wiped her nose on his blanket, took a tentative sip of the rum and offered him a watery smile.

"You're not all bad, are you… Captain." Lavinia said, her fiery eyes turned almost emerald as she stared at him.

Jack patted her idly on the head and swayed off out of the door, almost running into Anamaria who was waiting outside to inform him that the ship was ready to sail.

"She's staying." He told her flatly, taking the wheel and giving the order to set sail early.

"Are you happy now?" She asked him curiously, her female intuition hinting that she had noticed his partiality for the passionate little thing.

"I have my moments, but they're getting further and further apart." He grumbled.

* * *

**Hope and love** – thank you I'm glad you do

**A Depp Girl** – the wait was disgraceful for this chapter I'm afraid, I hope you're still reading it though

**HyenaWolf** – here's chapter four, sorry about taking so long to update, hope you like it

**jo schmoe** – I did forget about it actually and I've had writer's block for like two years so I'm sorry about taking years to update but here it is hope you like it


	5. Life on the Ocean Wave

**Amour Pour La Mer**

**A/N**: Lavinia's mine everything else belongs to the disgustingly rich people who are very obviously not me

**Full Summary**: Lavinia is a respectable well-brought up lady whose life is turned upside down when pirates attack her small coastal town resulting in her being kidnapped and taken aboard the Black Pearl to live. Her original hate for Jack Sparrow slowly becomes respect for his honest love for the ocean and life upon it. This steadily grows to something more as the months they spend on the open sea with only the crew for company push them further together. Will their very different lives pull them apart or can a love as pure as that for something such as the ocean keep them whole together.

**Pairing/s**: Jack Sparrow and OC

**Rating**: M – occasional language and eventual sex scenes

**Chapter Five – A Life on the Ocean Wave**

Once more on the deck I stand  
Of my own swift-gliding craft  
Set sail! farewell to the land!  
The gale follows fair abaft  
We shoot through the sparkling foam  
Like an ocean-bird set free  
Like the ocean-bird, our home  
We'll find far out on the sea

A Life on the Ocean Wave – Epes Sargent

Lavinia eyed the swathes of material doubtfully. Sewing had never been her strong point. She shot a weary glance at the trunk full of clothes. She could have continued to wear other people's stolen clothes, but she wanted to keep the only thing that remained of her old life. Of course a rather ridiculously huge dress wasn't exactly suitable on a ship. She'd detached the bodice and corset from the skirts. She'd tried it without them but she found she jiggled quite unexpectedly and uncomfortably. Of course, without a maid to lace her into it, the corset wasn't as tight and fitted as she was used to but it did the trick well enough. She kept a pair of breeches from the trunk because no part of her dress was sturdy enough for a substitute.

She'd been left with a huge pile of skirts that she had no idea what to do with but she couldn't quite bring herself to get rid of them. Besides, she wasn't quite ready to forget who she was entirely. She peered at herself in the small looking glass. Charles would have a heart attack if he knew what she was about to do. Her heart gave a twinge and she clapped a hand to her breast as if she could still the sharp pain. It didn't really matter what she did, Charles was already dead. As her father probably was.

She took a deep breath, glaring at her trembling hand until it steadied. She wrapped the thick rope of her hair around her fist and held it out away from her. Her grip tightened on the knife until her knuckles started to ache.

"What are you doing?"

She jerked and her hand tightened instinctively until it hurt to loosen her grip when she saw Anamaria in the doorway with a plate of food. Her dark face was fixed in a frown and she stalked across the room and almost snatched the knife from her.

"I'm cutting it off." Lavinia said bluntly, blushing at the sharpness in her words.

Again her thoughts drifted to what Charles would say if he could hear her and she stuck out her chin defiantly.

"Don't be so stupid." Anamaria snapped, she put the knife on the table besides the looking glass and knelt down behind her.

With surprising gentleness, Anamaria ran her fingers through Lavinia's hair, smoothing out the curls.

"My hair nearly got me killed." Lavinia said sulkily, knowing she was generalising.

"Granted, it didn't help." Anamaria admitted as she worked the unruly waves into a surprisingly pretty braid. "Did you really think pretending to be a boy would keep 'em away from you?"

Lavinia blushed. It sounded so ridiculous coming from someone else's mouth.

"Trust me, you ain't gonna fool no one. Ya too pretty." Anamaria tied the braid with a discarded ribbon. "'Sides… two things are preventin' ya master plan."

Her dark eyes in the mirror drifted down to Lavinia's bosom, the corset pushing up and shaping as it was supposed to. Lavinia was sure that even her ears were pink with embarrassment. She'd tried to cover herself up with a cream shirt she'd found, pulled on over her tight corset, but her flesh peeped through the lacings at the front of the too-big shirt. Anamaria patted her shoulder awkwardly and left. Lavinia turned to the plate she'd left behind. Bread and cheese. Suddenly famished she polished it off in no time and, feeling slightly stronger and not quite as sorry for herself, she climbed to her feet. She felt slightly off-kilter without the usual heavy skirts to manoeuvre but it was also freeing.

It was a rather lazy day on board. Besides the activity needed to keep the ship going, it was generally quiet. Wary of getting in the way, she found a quiet corner and leant against the side of the ship. When she tired of watching the sea she turned away and searched for something to occupy herself with. Jack was at the wheel although he wasn't necessarily steering. He looked surprisingly sober for a change. She cast around hopefully for Anamaria but she was no where to be found and none of the other crew tolerated her presence. She didn't like the looks they were sending her, their eyes seemed to penetrate her clothes and it made her feel vulnerable.

She tensed when a passing pirate veered towards her with nothing pleasant in his eye. Before he could reach her she ducked away from him and hurried up the wooden stairs. Jack stared at her. He'd been under the impression that this girl was his captive and suddenly she was prowling around his ship. He watched her approach.

"What do you do out here all day?" She grumbled, running a lily-white hand over the wheel.

He'd never seen hands like hers before, they were so small and pale, undoubtedly soft and lithe and yet… he'd seen her wielding several weapons with alarming accuracy. She peered at him. Huge eyes, not quite blue but not quite green either, fringed by long thick sooty lashes and glaring at him impatiently. She was not classically beautiful, not really. Her lower lip was too plump, her nose too snub and her eyes too big but there was so much passion and intensity beneath the surface, something about her that drew all of the features together pleasantly. Rather than growing nervous under his intense scrutiny, she tilted her face towards him stubbornly and held his gaze.

"What do ladies do?" He said with a shrug. "Dancing? Darning?"

"I'm a terrible dancer." She snapped. "Although I can sew." Her gaze flickered to the sword at his side and he wondered idly if she was going to try to kill him again. "I only took dancing lessons to disguise my sparring lessons."

He peered at her doubtfully.

"You're good with a sword?"

She bristled at him.

"Probably better than you are at dancing."

He squared his shoulders and glared down his nose at her.

"I am a fine dancer."

She rolled her eyes.

"You must be too." He said as seriously as he ever got. "To be good with a sword." He unsheathed his and gave it a twirl for emphasis. "You must be a good dancer. Observe."

He danced a few rapid steps, quite impressively she had to admit, then he repeated the steps with a few flamboyant sword movements to match. To her utter amazement, he tossed her his sword and she caught it reflexively. She tried her best to match his movements, the sword swirling easily in her hand.

"You look like ya legs are broken." He snorted and she bristled angrily, heat flushing over her collarbone.

He made the movements again and she watched his feet carefully. Once again she made the same movements and once again he squinted at her and then laughed. He took the sword from her and tucked it back into his belt, then he held his hands out to her. She stared at them suspiciously. Despite the ridiculous amount of inappropriate comments he sent her way, he'd never once touched her improperly and it was only this that allowed her to put her small delicate hands in his. He tugged her closer but there was still a respectable distance between them, which she was immensely grateful for. She didn't like the way her traitorous heart was hammering quite so rapidly against the bones of her corset. Taking his lead she followed him in the steps of a basic waltz even children could do. He was looking intently down at her feet but she found herself gazing fixedly at him. The smooth line of his strong aquiline nose, the long feathery lashes against the bronzed cheekbone, the smirking mouth pulled up at one corner.

She found her palms were quite moist against his. He looked up at her after they'd concluded the steps. She wanted to slap that smug look off his face. He whirled her around so suddenly that she stumbled. When he righted her, he was behind her. His arm around her waist made her tremble and not entirely from fear. There was still a respectable distance between her back and his chest and her hand was clasped loosely in his. All of her teachings warned her that she should be outraged at the liberties he was taking with her person, his hands in places no man should ever touch before marriage and his knee quite snugly against hers.

Her feet moved automatically but her mind was overwhelmed with whatever was now rushing through her body. This man had taken everything from her, for absolutely no reason and yet her heart was fluttering wildly in her throat and heat was flooding through her body. She had flirted with a childhood friend, a sweetheart who was a year older than her and quite the scoundrel, but even when she had nervously pressed her lips against his and felt the shocking horror of his tongue touching her lips, she had never felt this way.

Her feet were moving of their own accord and that seemed to have been what was missing in her movements because as soon as she started thinking about it, she tripped over her new boots and stumbled. He had startlingly fast reflexes, given his general drunken demeanour, she realised as he caught her from falling and righted her.

"Now."

He dropped her hand and she held her breath when she felt him reach between them. Everything she'd been taught told her she should be outraged and downright scandalized as his arm brushed the swell of her behind as he drew his sword. Instead all she felt was an agonizing flush of hope which swooped down into disappointment as the sword emerged. He tucked it into her hand. She was completely thrown by the new sensations he was arousing in her as he wrapped his long dirty fingers over hers on the sword. He repeated the steps and added in the sword techniques, guiding her hand as she went through the motions.

Jack was finding it difficult to concentrate on what she was doing. He had never met a woman who hadn't conceded to his charms eventually. This one was so completely different. She had not melted against him at his touch or remained rigid as some did, but he was sure he could feel something flowing through her supple limbs as she moved with him. There was a fluid flow to her movements that had something churning in the pit of his stomach. He had quite forgotten why he had started this business but he was starting to remember how he'd like it to end.

He drew her infinitesimally closer to him, quite distracted by the intoxicating smell of her hair. He felt tension run through her body and it was a moment before either of them realised that they'd stopped moving. His fingers slid along hers on the handle of the sword. His palm was flat against the boned corset of her navel, his little finger caressing the silk sash she'd used as a belt for the breeches. She didn't move. She didn't press back against him as the whores he knew would have and she didn't try to snatch away from him as the 'ladies' he'd encountered would have. He hesitated. She did technically have hold of his sword and might possibly get aggressive should he venture to be a bit bolder.

Eventually the situation was taken out of his hands by Gibbs signalling him to point out a ship on the horizon.

Lavinia was trembling by the time she'd fled to her cabin, well Jack's cabin. She searched every memory she had of the times she'd spent with Rafael; every stolen kiss he'd inveigled from her in her innocence, every dance and carriage ride, even that one sacred night when she'd sneaked out of her room and out onto the moonlit pergola on her father's lands to meet him and he'd managed to put his hand inside her dress and stroke the delicate bones of her corset. He had taken liberties with her that she should never have allowed him to take and, at the time, her body had tingled with excitement. She realised now that it had mainly been the forbidden nature of their secret caresses that had stirred her. She had never been inflamed by the passion she read about in the novels her father had banned and she'd bartered with the maids for. She had felt something today that she'd never felt before. And she had the feeling that it was nowhere near what she was fully capable of feeling. She didn't know which notion scared her more thoroughly.

She felt shaken to her core. Her body was still thrumming from the feel of him, her fingers were tingling where he'd held them. She was still young and despite her manner, naïve, she had never expected to feel these sorts of things… and never about a dirty drunken pirate who had ransacked her home and destroyed everything she loved. She knew she should have felt ashamed and dirty but she didn't. She felt alive and restless, as if she had too much energy to contain it all in her slender body. Feeling as if her head might drop off with all the blood rushing through it, she threw herself down across the bed and prayed for something heavy to crush her and end her turmoil.


	6. Who Hath Desired the Sea

**Amour Pour La Mer**

**A/N**: Lavinia's mine everything else belongs to the disgustingly rich people who are very obviously not me

**Full Summary**: Lavinia is a respectable well-brought up lady whose life is turned upside down when pirates attack her small coastal town resulting in her being kidnapped and taken aboard the Black Pearl to live. Her original hate for Jack Sparrow slowly becomes respect for his honest love for the ocean and life upon it. This steadily grows to something more as the months they spend on the open sea with only the crew for company push them further together. Will their very different lives pull them apart or can a love as pure as that for something such as the ocean keep them whole together.

**Pairing/s**: Jack Sparrow and OC

**Rating**: M – occasional language and eventual sex scenes

**Chapter Six – Who Hath Desired the Sea**

Who hath desired the Sea? Her excellent loneliness rather  
Than forecourts of kings, and her outermost pits than the streets where men gather  
Inland, among dust, under trees - inland where the slayer may slay him -  
Inland, out of reach of her arms, and the bosom whereon he must lay him  
His Sea from the first that betrayed - at the last that shall never betray him:  
His Sea that his being fulfils?  
So and no otherwise - so and no otherwise - hillmen desire their Hills.

Who Hath Desired the Sea – Rudyard Kipling

She had fallen into a fitful sleep. It was the stillness that had woken her. She was used to the steady motion of the ship by now and this was a different kind of rocking. She rolled off the bed, staggering rather unsteadily to her feet. She pushed the curtains aside until she could peer out of the windows. They were anchored. A small strip of land was in the distance if she squinted.

It looked like plumes of smoke were curling into the night sky from the land, glimmers of light flickered. Fire. It was eerily silent on the ship; no pattering of bare feet on the boards above her, no piratey cackling sending chills down her spine. She hesitated where she was for a moment, fear coursing through her veins like poison. Lavinia took a long deep, steadying breath and moved towards the door.

There was an almighty clanking sound, a jerk at her shoulder and she halted. A huge iron cuff bound her delicate white wrist. She hadn't even noticed it. She ran a fingernail over it experimentally. The metal was warm, it must have been on her a long time to adjust to her body temperature. She took a careful step, stretching the chain as far as she could. It was bolted into the deep wood of the ship. How had they cuffed her while she was sleeping? She lifted her arm, the cuff weighed it down. Someone must have been in here while she was oblivious, unconscious and vulnerable. She felt her skin begin to crawl.

She sat down in the middle of the cabin and stared intently at the door.

* * *

Jack was having a good day. His ship was in good condition again, his crew were happy with the bit of plundering they'd found on that little island and he had a wench on each arm. He was still regaling them with one of his more embellished tales when he kicked open the door to his cabin. Lavinia was sitting cross-legged in the centre of the room, absently lifting and dropping her chained wrist so it clunked rhythmically against the polished boards of the floor.

"Oh. You." He murmured regretfully. He'd completely forgotten all about her.

The wenches, who had been giggling and trilling into his ears only moments ago, became entirely indignant at the sight of such a pretty, obviously well bred, girl chained to their Captain's bed. Jack could talk his way out of anything but he was completely thrown by three angry women bearing down on him at once. The angrily squawking wenches were appropriated by the rest of the crew and Jack was left with Lavinia.

"Was this necessary?" She asked icily, clanking the chain again for emphasis.

"Luv, I have met many more troublesome women than you and if I could have bound them I would have." He smiled cheerfully.

"If I had been conscious, you would not have had such an easy time of it." Lavinia countered with as much dignity as she could muster.

She extended her arm imperiously. The cuff and chain were heavy and her small wrist trembled with the effort but outstretched it remained until he'd recovered the key from one of his inside pockets. He'd been plied quite thoroughly with rum and it took him several attempts to match the key to the small lock. During these attempts it did not escape his notice that she was very close to him. Her shining mass of red curls were ruffled from sleep and scented faintly with something fruity. Her pale skin was soft to the touch unlike the rather leathery skin of the wenches he was used to. This close to, he could see the fine dusting of freckles along the back of her hand.

"Can't you ever stay sober?" She grumbled rudely as he missed the lock again.

He lifted his dark eyes from her wrist to her face and she felt something drop in her chest. She had imagined a pirate's eyes to be full of hate and anger and greed. His were amused, full of life and flickering with light. Lashes that long and lustrous should not be allowed. The lock clicked and the cuff fell with a loud bang, bashing her thigh painfully on the way. She cursed, rubbing her palm against her leg.

"Where have you been?" She demanded irritably.

She'd already made an educated guess but talking distracted from the pain in her leg.

"Ashore. Being pirates. Doing piratey things. General pirate business."

"You mean murdering people. Stealing. Burning. Probably raping too." Lavinia's cheeks turned red just uttering the word and she scooted back away from him in disgust.

Jack nodded along with all of her suggestions, cocking his head at the last one. His forehead creased thoughtfully.

"Do I look like the kind of Captain who can't entertain a lady of her own accord?"

She glared at him, suddenly aware that her back was pressed against the huge wooden bed behind her. He loomed before her, crouching back on his haunches and surveying her without the slightest bit of interest. She relaxed a fraction, hurriedly quashing the flutter of disappointment in her breast.

"What do you want with me?"

He peered at her as if she was some sort of curiously unusual fish he'd never seen before. She felt her heart kick then start to hammer furiously at his close inspection. He took in every inch of her. Her rumpled curls pouring over her bare shoulders. The corset pushed her breasts up firmly into view, a thin golden chain on her collarbone disappearing between them. From the strange position she'd taken when she scrambled backwards, he could see a good portion of bare skin between the corset and her breeches. The breeches, which were pulled deliciously tight against her thighs.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She'd been aiming for stern stony defiance but there was a tremble in her voice that drew his wickedly flashing eyes down to her plump rosy lips. "What are you thinking? Stop that."

He reached out a not-particularly-clean hand, curling one stray lock of hair around his finger and pulling until it bounced. The backs of his fingers brushed against her cheek and heat flooded her face. Her heart was pounding, her stomach was roiling and something was tingling somewhere she'd never thought about before. Rafael had never had this effect on her. He'd edged a little closer to her. Almost of its own volition, her head tipped back and her gaze flickered to the wickedly smiling mouth inches away from hers.

He moved even closer, his hand drifting to her throat, his thumb brushing under her jaw. Her gaze jumped up, surprised at the sudden contact. Jack had taken his pleasure with many women, many many women, but none of them had ever looked at him in that way. He'd seen pleasure, lust, greed, pride and even fear in the dozens of long-lashed eyes peering up at him but never the frank, almost hopeful, curiosity burning in Lavinia's gaze. It was as if she was exposing a fragment of herself to him, something so deeply personal he felt guilt stirring in his gut. He'd never felt guilty about anything before. And he wasn't going to now.

His lips were surprisingly soft, his moustache and goatee tickled but she couldn't find anything amusing about this situation. Her heart seemed to have stopped entirely and she couldn't feel the rest of her body, only his hand at her throat and his other hand somewhere near her waist. The faint stirrings and giddy excitement she'd experienced with Rafael were nothing to this. Her entire body was thrumming with electricity, her blood was on fire, her chest was singing. It took her a dizzy moment to realise that her head was clouded for lack of oxygen.

The noise outside the cabin startled her. She'd quite forgotten they weren't entirely alone. He drew away, amusement glimmering deep in his eyes. There was fire there too, and she felt her body pulsing with the knowledge that she had put that fire in him. He also looked smug, ridiculously smug and self-satisfied. Lavinia felt her face burning with embarrassment and she shrank away from him. How could she have given him the satisfaction? How could she have let some common pirate put his hands on her? And even worse, enjoy it?

She was in turmoil, her rebellious heart was beating a thunderous tattoo against the back of her ribs and she couldn't quite seem to catch her breath.

Jack paused for a moment with a long thoughtful, slightly confused, look, then dug around in his pockets. He pulled out a fistful of glittering jewels. Lavinia stared at them in horror. He poked through the pile of jewels and then extracted a pair of earrings with relish. They were beautiful drops dangling from tiny diamond stars. He held them up to each of her ears, they were such a vivid turquoise that they turned her eyes to emeralds. He laid them on her palm and beamed.

"I don't want them." She stammered, her revulsion filling her throat until she was choking on it.

He frowned in confusion.

"You stole them!" She managed to get out, shoving the earrings towards him. "Their owner is probably dead. Murdered!" She shrieked.

"No." Jack still looked amused and she wanted more than anything to reach up and slap that look off his face. "I appropriated these from a lass who is still very much alive."

"Oh well that's alright then." Lavinia snapped, leaping to her feet and dashing for the door.

She now had a problem. The ship was on the move again and the crew were swarming all over it. She had no where to sleep, no where safe to go and it was starting to get very chilly on her bare arms. She realised she was still clutching the earrings. She marched straight over to the side of the ship and stuck out her arm.

"What you wanna do that for?"

Jack's arm wound around her waist and yanked her back away from the side. She thrashed wildly without making him lose his grip in the slightest. He took the earrings from her clenched fist. She'd tightened her grasp on the earrings so much her palm was beaded with dots of blood.

"Why are you keeping me here?" She hissed when he finally let her go.

"You want to leave, luv. Leave." He said levelly, looking as serious as she'd ever seen him.

"I don't have anywhere to go." She snarled. "You killed my family when you kidnapped me."

"Then you better get comfortable, My Lady." Jack was quite unrepentant and that glow of amusement was back in his eyes.

"And do what?" She demanded stubbornly. "I don't know the first thing about sailing a ship. Or being a pirate."

"So learn." He squinted at her. "Ya got brains under all that hair don't you?"

He tugged on a stray curl and, to her horror, she felt her lips twitching into a smile.

"You're going to teach me?" She said doubtfully.

He leaned in suddenly, startling her when she was just getting used to his unhurried swaggering movements.

"I could teach you." He repeated in an undertone and she wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about.

A loud boom of thunder made her jump in surprise. Jack leaned away from her, tilting his chin back so he could see beyond his hat. The sky was darkening, thick black clouds billowing. The boat gave a sharp rocking motion and Lavinia clutched the side of the ship behind her.

"Is that a storm?" She gasped, leaning over the side and staring at the bucking waves.

The sea was roiling, midnight blue waves becoming chopping grey.

"Do storms come on that fast out here?" She stammered a little breathlessly, fear clawing at her spine.

Jack looked serious, deathly serious, for once and he frowned up at the black clouds. The crew were mainly below deck, enjoying their loot and the wenches they'd borrowed for the night. They'd planned on heading straight for the next port to re-supply, they would have been there by morning but the storm brewing was pushing against them in the wrong direction. Jack pulled away from her and dashed off, presumably in search of the crew.

Lavinia didn't know what to do. Most of her wanted to bolt and lock herself in Jack's cabin again but what good would that do? The waves were higher now, the ship was bucking sharply up and down and she hurriedly moved away from the side of the ship. The boards seemed to be rolling beneath her feet as she staggered, clinging to a nearby cannon.

"Hey!" Lavinia turned to see Annamaria, her hair loose and wild as she pulled on her boots. "They need strapping down."

Lavinia nodded, the wind had started to whip viciously. Annamaria tossed her a rope and they managed to secure several of the cannons to the deck before the clouds tore apart and sheets of rain thundered down on their heads with the force of a brick. Lavinia swiped thick strands of hair from her face, squinting against the driving rain. Figures were dashing all over the deck, shouts were lost in the wind and orders were echoing. The ship was writhing wildly, the sails were thunderous as they bucked against the wind.

"The sails need securing." Annamaria shouted in her ear, her dark eyes huge and liquid with fear.

Lavinia looked up at the huge masts anxiously as Annamaria tied a safety rope around her slim waist. They were so high. She squashed her fear. A stray piece of rope flew across the wet deck and wrapped around her ankles. She bent and grabbed it, slicing it in half with her knife and tying it around her hands. The rough material tore at her soft flesh but it helped her grip the soaking wet wood as Annamaria boosted her up. One of the pirates, whose name she could never remember, was climbing too. Lavinia tried her best to imagine it was just a tree as she climbed, rain slanting into her eyes and the rope around her hands chafing unmercifully. They had pulled up the sails and Lavinia straddled the yard. It was difficult to keep her balance on the huge wooden beam as she fumbled with the wet ropes. The sails were soaked and ridiculously heavy as she scrambled to tie the knots as tightly as she could.

She was soaked to the bone, the sharp wind whipping around her and the rain pricking her like thousands of needles. She blinked furiously trying to keep the water out of her eyes as she worked. Her fingers were numb and they slipped on the wet ropes but eventually the sail was secured. The pirate grinned at her, a toothless leer that was about as friendly as it got on that ship. It was harder getting down than it had been getting up but Lavinia finally managed it, staggering slightly as she regained her equilibrium.

Annamaria beamed at her. Water was crashing over the side of the ship and the two of them were caught in the wash. They hit the deck with a startled "oof" and Lavinia automatically grabbed onto Annamaria as they were swept across the wet boards. The rope around her waist caught on something and they jerked painfully to a standstill. Lavinia couldn't breathe, the rope was tightening unbearably. Lavinia scrabbled for her knife, her fingers sliding on the wet material of her breeches. The ship had tilted on a huge wave, things were rolling and sliding across the deck towards them. Lavinia felt a flashing blow to her head, stars burst before her eyes and she whimpered at the pain. They slid further across the deck and the rope got tighter. Lavinia used her strength to push Annamaria further up the deck so she could steady herself, then she gripped the rope and hauled herself up. She managed to give herself just enough space to breathe again.

The ship rocked violently and Lavinia rolled over, slamming hard into the side of the ship. A screaming body sailed over her head and hit the sea with a loud crack. The scene was lit by a flash of lightening but rain and blood were dripping into her eyes.

It seemed to go on for hours, rain and thunder and screaming and shouts. She couldn't have stood if she'd tried; the ship was still at a painful angle in danger of tipping over, gravity forcing her further back against the side of the ship. She was shaking with cold, every inch of her soaking wet and pain blossoming from the rope at her ribs and the blow she'd taken to her head.

* * *

Eventually, after what seemed hours, the ship had straightened out and the waves calmed. She felt woozy, exhaustion surging over her so she could hardly struggle to a sitting position.

"Are you alright?" Annamaria asked, pushing her soaking wet hair out of her face and squatting down before her.

"I think so." Lavinia said gently, her shaking hands working the knife against the rope.

She got to her wobbly feet and staggered towards the cabin, sidestepping fallen barrels and broken glass and scattered debris. She knew she should probably help clean up but she was shaken to her core. She could have died. Looking around it was clear that some people had died. She closed the door to the cabin. Jack's things were strewn all over, the mirror had tumbled and shattered and his lamp had fallen from the wall and crashed against the trunk spilling puddles of oil everywhere. Her boots crunched on the broken glass as she crossed the room. The bed was surprisingly undisturbed, the sheets and blankets had been tucked under the feather mattress when she'd made the bed earlier. It had moved a few inches but that was all, the blankets weren't even wet.

She was cold right down to the bone and she stripped out of her clothes, even her undergarments, and climbed under the sheets. She'd never been naked anywhere but the huge brass tub in the bathroom at home. The sheets were surprisingly silky and smooth against her bare skin, probably stolen from some rich person's home. She burrowed into the blankets. She was a small trembling lump when Jack swaggered into the cabin.

He'd stripped off his coat and hat and was down to his shirt and trousers before he even realised she was there. All he could see was a lump of blankets and a mass of fiery red curls.

"Oh." He muttered absently, stroking his dripping wet goatee. "You. I forgot about you."

She stirred slightly but didn't emerge. She heard his boots crunching on the broken glass, the slight swish as the water pooling on the floor gave way under his feet. He squinted when he saw red smears on his gold brocade pillows. He yanked down the blankets. She had a nasty gash on her forehead. She looked up at him wearily, not even having the energy to lash out at him as she usually did. He used the sleeve of his wet shirt to clean away the blood from her face.

"Why are you taking care of me?" Her voice was slightly raspy and hoarse. "I'm a captive, aren't I? When you remember I'm here."

He rolled one shoulder in a half shrug, that inexplicable grin quirking his plump lower lip again.

"I don't see any restraints, luv." He ran an eye over her expertly, eyeing every contour starkly outlined by the thin sheet pulled over her. "'Course, they could be provided…"

She narrowed those dazzling eyes at him and he shot her a brilliant smirk. Her hand emerged from the sheets to bat his long fingers away from the gash on her forehead. He snatched her wrist. She'd unwound the ropes from her hands and her soft white palms were now criss-crossed with angry red welts and burns. She hadn't even noticed how much they were hurting.

"How did you manage that?"

"Used rope to help my grip." She wanted to draw her hand out of his grasp but she couldn't summon the energy, she seemed to have lost all feeling in her arm except for the tingling where his fingers brushed over her throbbing pulse.

"What else?"

She stared at him in silence for a moment, then peeled back the sheet. She used a corner of the sheet and clapped the uncaptured arm over her breasts so he could see the bruises already blooming in vivid purples and blues over her ribs. The brief thought that if Charles saw her now he'd have a heart attack, flashed through her mind but it hurt too much to pursue it. In fact it hurt with every breath she took. Jack studied the bruises for a long time. Actually he cast an eye over the bruises and then spent the rest of the time eyeing the smooth expanse of leg, the plush curve of her hip, the delicate planes of her flat stomach and the swell of her breasts, all in soft porcelain white skin that seemed to glow against the musty ivory sheets.

"Are you quite done gawking at me like I am one of those _women_ you entertain below deck?"

He laughed, looking thoroughly amused and not the slightest bit sorry. She should have felt ashamed to be exposing herself so disgracefully to this… _pirate_, but underneath the pain in her ribs and the bone-weary exhaustion, her heart was racing and she felt a flash of something surge through her. She'd never felt it before, it was almost the feeling she'd had when Dr Williamson had asked her for her favour and told her he was burning with dreams of her, when his eyes had devoured her in her brand new corset and the touch of his hand on her own gloved one had almost burned her up. But it was more intense than that, more dangerous, more primal. Her upbringing was struggling with her desire. Like a shot to the head it hit her that she liked the way he looked at her; the fire that danced in his eyes, the tiny pink tip of his tongue as it darted over his smirking lip.

Her lips parted and her sore lungs drew in a sharp breath when she saw his body's reaction to her nakedness. Brushing against Rafael in her layers and layers of skirts had given her no impression of the real dynamics involved. She felt apprehension mix with a shot of curiosity. Eventually he looked away. His cheeks had darkened and his hand wasn't entirely steady when he finally let go of her wrist.

"Are they broken?" He asked gruffly, his usual calm demeanour had apparently been shaken by something.

"Why are you asking me? Do I strike you as a doctor?"

"You strike me as an educated type." He pointed out, imitating her irritable accent perfectly.

She glowered at him. He reached out and, surprisingly tentatively, pressed his fingertips against the bruise. She hissed through her teeth with the pain but remained still. Jack had no clue what he was doing but he could improvise like nobody else, and touching her smooth naked flesh was absolutely no deterrent at all. He kneaded her gently, pressing between the ribs until she gasped. Goosebumps had broken out over her skin although it was pleasantly warm under his fingers.

"Do they feel broken?" She asked in a slightly breathless voice.

"No, luv."

He drew back and she tugged the blanket back up to her chin. He wanted to point out that she was still in his bed, but she'd already fallen asleep.


End file.
